Claim Preparation & Supporting Documentation Catherine Burke

Claim Preparation & Supporting Documentation Catherine Burke Northern & Western Regional Assembly July 2019

Static Information First Level Control Unit will open a Permanent Audit File (PAF) for each project; partners will be required to forward the following information to be contained therein; • Approved Application • Grant Offer Letter • Partnership Agreement • Contracts of employment or letters of assignment for all staff engaged in project activities • Salary scales or Title of Scale • Document Retention Policy

First Level Control Fee Structure Where an organisation requires a PO on invoices, it would be good practice to generate the PO when the claim is being submitted for certification. Our fee structure is two-fold as follows: • Desk Check • <30 line items or < €20,000 = €500 • >30 line items or > €20,000 = €750

On-the-Spot Checks • < 100 line items (over total project) or • < €100,000 (total project) = €750 plus FLC Travel & Subsistence costs • > 100 line items (over total project) or • > €100,000 (total project) = €1,200 plus FLC Travel & Subsistence costs

PLEASE NOTE: • 100% check will be carried out on ALL claims • Onsite inspections will be carried out towards the end of the project normally on Claim 5, unless there is an approved budget for Infrastructure, in this instance the onsite will be carried out earlier in the project timeline possibly 2nd or 3rd claim • For 2nd and all subsequent claims, Certificates will not be issued where fees for previous claim are outstanding. • FLC fees may only be declared once the invoices have been paid • Purchase Orders should ideally be issued when claim is being submitted

Claim Preparation When preparing a claim for submission to First Level Controllers for certification you should ask yourself the following questions: • How much will I be declaring? • Print a financial report/General Ledger listing showing all cost elements related to project from Accounting/Finance section which is required to be submitted in support of expenditure declared for each claim • How is the total expenditure broken down, which budget lines will I be declaring? • Analyse the report by budget line, you may have expenditure declared under all 5 budget lines

Declaring expenditure on SIGI • Staff costs may be declared by staff member (one entry per calendar year) i.e. if your reporting period spans 2 calendar years then you should have 2 entries per staff member. • Declared expenditure should ideally be reported as separate entries on SIGI, i.e. travel expense claim for J Bloggs for January 2019 should be entered as 1 line item, full travel claim detailing journeys undertaken and all receipts for vouched costs should be provided in support • External Expertise should be reported by supplier invoices, these should be listed separately by invoice. • Equipment should be declared by item purchased

FLC Check • A separate Project Account should be set up on accounting system • General Ledger printout must be submitted with each report • Expenditure charged to project in each reporting period should be listed on GL printout • FLC will validate transactions based on GL • Based on this check FLC will select a sample of expenditure to be traced through the bank

Staff Costs • What support do I need to provide? • Contract of Employment showing 100% assignment to project, or Manager’s Order/Letter assigning staff member to work wholly and exclusively on project. • Salary Scale applicable to remuneration, and employer’s pension contribution if applicable, rate of Employer’s PRSI applicable • Payslips for the period, Payroll History report showing payments made • Seconded staff and their related travel MUST BE reported under External Expertise.

Staff Costs – Fixed Percentage • Fixed Percentage – what support is required? • Contract of employment or letter of assignment specifying employment status. • Manager’s Order/Letter of Assignment- addressed to employee, clearly setting out % of time to be apportioned to project, and duration of the arrangement. You could also include a line requesting consent from the staff member in relation to the release of their salary details for claim purposes. NB letter should clearly state the role/responsibilities of the staff member in relation to the project • Salary scale applicable • Payslips / Payroll History report showing payments made

Staff Costs – Variable Hours • Variable Hours – what support is required? • Contract of Employment • Timesheets showing 100% of total time worked; NOTE timesheets should show all time worked i.e. project hours and other work. • Hourly rate of pay declared, note: this should include ERS PRSI + ERS pension contribution if applicable • Payslips for period or Payroll History report showing payments made • Hourly rate should be calculated by using actual hours for Atlantic Area simplified method of using 1720 hours is not accepted. Please Note: Where staff are working on more than 1 project then either fixed % or timesheets only should be claimed, you may not use a combination of timesheets and fixed % in this case.

Example of Hourly Rate Calculation Total Gross Salary (per annum) Grade IV point 5 €35,243.00 ERS PRSI (Class A) 10.95% (2019 rate) €3,859.11 Pension contribution* – 10% €3,524.30 Total Reckonable Salary €42,626.41 Reckonable Hours 365-(104 weekends + 30 annual leave + 9 public holidays) = 222 @ 7.4 hrs per day = 1642.8 Actual hourly calculation 1642.8 Hourly Rate to be charged to Project €42,626.41 ÷ 1642.8 hrs = €25.95 per hour *Note 1 – pension contribution is only eligible if incurred and paid and can be traced through the bank account of the partner organisation.

Example of Fixed % of time worked Total Gross Salary (per annum) Grade IV point 5 €35,243.00 ERS PRSI (Class A) 10.95% €3,859.11 Pension contribution* – 10% €3,524.30 Total Reckonable Salary €42,626.41 Fixed % assigned to Project 30% Fixed % chargeable to Project each 6 monthly reporting period = €42,626.41 @ 30% = €12,787.92 p.a. = €6,393.96 per reporting period *Note 1 – pension contribution is only eligible if incurred and paid and can be traced through the bank account of the partner organisation.

Staff Costs – Common Errors • Timesheet not showing 100% of time worked • Staff working on multiple projects showing a combination of fixed % and timesheets • Payslips/Payroll History not provided • Letter of assignment to work fixed % not provided • Roles and Responsibilities in relation to project not noted on letter • Employer’s PRSI not included in cost declared • Person not directly employed by partner organisation

Office & Administration • Partners may declare a flat rate of 15% of staff costs, no support is required? • This cost is not automatically generated by SIGI, you will need to enter the amount and upload a document in support of the cost, • Expenditure covered by Office & Admin include office rent, utilities, office supplies, IT support, phone, maintenance & bank charges.

Office & Administration – Common Errors • Flat rate includes external experts time • Phone charges/stationary declared separately as direct costs • Cost of purchase of phones for project management included as additional items. • Costs calculated on total expenditure declared including all budget lines • Costs declared only on Project Manager costs and not all direct staff costs • Office & Admin costs not uploaded to SIGI

Travel & Accommodation • What support is required? • Copies of actual travel claims as submitted by employee for payment • Copy receipts for any vouched costs, i.e. taxis, bus, tolls, parking. • National Subsistence rates must be respected. • Most economical transport means should be used. • Travel outside the programme area must have prior approval by Joint Secretariat unless explicitly stated in application. • Proof of payment of travel claims. • Copy attendance sheets, minutes of meetings, agenda, etc……..

Travel & Accommodation – Common Errors • Travel declared for persons external to organisation • Receipts not provided for taxis, tolls, bus fares, parking • Actual travel claim not submitted • Travel paid outside reporting period • No evidence of attendance at events • Credit card bills used as audit evidence as opposed to invoices • Credit card bill paid outside reporting period

External Expertise • What external services are declared? • Are Experts external to organisation? • How were services procured? • Do the correct logos appear on tender documents?

External Expertise / Procurement Support • Request for Quote (RFQ) • Advertisement • Tender • Opening policy • Scoring / Award Criteria • Terms of Reference (TOR) • Letters to awardee and unsuccessful tenders • Contract / Agreement with successful supplier • Report on work undertaken / completed

External Expertise – Common Errors • Partner meals declared under Travel & Accommodation • No link to project for external expertise costs declared • Sample Artwork for printed material not submitted • Evidence of payment omitted • Incomplete tender documents provided • Invoices not paid in reporting period • Procurement Process not carried out • Change in weightings during procurement process • Splitting contracts • Evaluation/assessment of tenders not provided • Contracts above threshold not advertised on e-tenders

Equipment • What type of equipment is declared? • Who was the equipment for? • What, if any, depreciation applies?

Equipment Support • What support is required • What procurement process was applied? • Is the equipment used wholly and exclusively for the project? • Copy of organisational Depreciation Policy • GL printout showing how Depreciation is charged • Does the equipment need to be charged pro rata to project? • Does the economic life of the equipment extend beyond the project end date? Note: laptops assigned to the project and purchased in period 1 may be declared in full in first claim subject to depreciation rules if applicable

Depreciation Calculation – Example 1 Equipment to value of €5,000 purchased in reporting period 3 (), allocated to staff member working 50% of time on project, equipment depreciated over 3 year period. • 24 months/36months of equipment value eligible for recoupment - €3,333 • 50% of eligible amount attributed to project - €1,667 • In some instances partners will break amount down over remaining reporting periods in project, however, we would be happy to allow the full eligible amount when expenditure has been incurred and paid, i.e. claim no 3

Depreciation Calculation – Example 2 Major equipment item to value of €48,000 purchased in period 1, used 75% of time for project, depreciated over 8 years in line with organisational depreciation policy. As this equipment would have a use beyond the life of the project equipment should be charged to the project as follows: • Total value of item divided by number of years depreciated (48,000 ÷ 8) = €6,000 per annum • Annual Charge x % usage - 6,000 x 75% = 4,500 per annum • Total eligible cost to be applied to project = 4,500 x 3 = €13,500

Equipment– Common Errors • Full cost of equipment declared where staff only work a fixed percentage of time. • Equipment purchased in year 2 of project but claimed in full • Physical equipment not present during on-the-spot inspection • Depreciation policy not applied • Invoices not paid in reporting period

Small Infrastructure & Construction Works • Will the works provide added value to the project? • Are the works funded from any other EU fund? • Do the works comply with Information and Publicity rules? • Have all the compulsory EU requirements, i.e. feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, building permissions etc, been met? • Does the purchase of land meet the eligible criteria?

Small Infrastructure & Construction Works What support is required • Evidence of procurement process • Announcement • Selection • Award Documents pertaining to the work • Studies, Assessments, Planning Permission

Small Infrastructure & Construction Works • Contract laying down the works with clear reference to the project and Programme • Invoices in line with contract/agreement • Proof of delivery and payment • Proof of ownership • In the case of purchase of land or real estate; a certificate from an independent qualified evaluator or duly authorised official body confirming the cost is in line with the market value.

Small Infrastructure & Construction Works – Common Errors • Added value to project not evident / works differ from that approved in application • Studies and other mandatory documentation not provided • Evidence of ownership not evident • Value of works exceed permissible level; i.e. 10% of project budget or 15% for brownfield sites. • Fees not paid in reporting period

Other Potential Errors • FX rate other than date of submission used • Mobile/Telephone costs declared separately • Gifts to host partner. • Annual fees on credit card • Weekend hours worked • GL Printout not provided

Claim Upload • When claims have been uploaded to SIGI it is crucial that all supporting documentation, if not uploaded to portal, is forwarded to FLC within 3 working days, • In the event of support not being submitted within this timeframe, claims will be reverted to partner for resubmission when support is available. • This is to ensure that partners who have submitted completed documentation on time are not treated unfairly in the queue

When you access your Partner Report you should see the screen below, where you can add financial appendices to the report. Tab 7 is where you upload the attachments and declare your expenditure

Section 6. 3 – Financial Controller

Workflow of Financial Reports Step 1 Partners prepare and submit Financial Reports electronically to FLC for certification, FLC will return the certificate to the Partner who must then return the report to National Authority for Validation. For partners in Republic of Ireland NWRA are both FLC & NA. FLC Partners National Authority Partners

Step 2 Lead Partner compiles all Partner Progress reports into one consolidated report and submits electronically to the JS for validation

Step 3 JS will assess the composite report, once approved, they will launch the payment procedure Please Note: FLC have no control over when payments will be issued, once the claim has been validated at NA Level we have no further access to the report This process will be repeated every 6 months, reporting periods Sept – Feb and Mar - Aug, however, partners will not be able to access a new report if one is pending approval at JS level

overview of financial information • Validates financial report • Prepare Financial Report 6 • SubmitsPaymentclaims Partners FLC • Transfersthemoney to partnersbankaccount 7 Certifying Authority ManagingAuthority 5 4 1 2 Partners Partners 3

When we review your financial report, we may request further information / support, this should be submitted within a reasonable timeframe, (1 week from date of request). If we do not receive responses within that timeframe we will proceed to certify your claim without the expenditure pending further information. Once your claim has been certified by FLC we will forward our Transaction Listing for your information, where we have made amendments to or disallowed expenditure our reasons/comments will be noted in the FLC Comment to Partner Column. The Amounts to be uploaded to SIGI are the amounts in the CERTIFIED column. Where you disagree with our correction, you may resubmit the expenditure in a subsequent report with additional support and justification as to why the expenditure should be permitted. Finally the more complete the information provided at submission stage the quicker we will be able to finalise your claim

Tips for Preparation and Submission • Collate all information onto Excel workbook prior to upload • Ensure all supporting documentation is available • Check totals by budget line • Upload all supporting documents to the portal Note: if there are issues with uploading information to the portal please forward soft copy of complete documentation by email to flc@nwra.ie • Raise Purchase Order number when claim is being submitted • When report has been submitted please notify FLC by email to flc@nwra.ie

Any Questions

Contact Details First Level Control Team Sharon Conway – First Level Controller Catherine Burke – Assistant First Level Controller Northern & Western Regional Assembly The Square Ballaghaderreen Co Roscommon Tel: 094 9877015 Email: flc@nwra.ie Web: www.nwra.ie

Claim Preparation & Supporting Documentation Catherine Burke